burn this city
by sybilius
Summary: distractions keep Light flickering back to L, his spider fingers and shadowed eyes. He's not sure why. L knows. Takes place almost immediately after the start of episode 13. Title is from Franz Ferdinand "This Fire", which is a good song to listen to before/after/during. Originally published on Ao3.


It's the perfect foil chocolates that catch him unaware at first. In the fourth hotel room in two weeks, the Kira Investigation task force pores over the note from the second Kira. Despite his irritation with the obvious idiocy of the situation, Light's eyes flicker over L's spider fingers. There's been a ceasefire between them, at least as long as the week-long siege of the imposter. The smell of peanut butter prickles over his skin as he watches the chocolate disappear behind L's lips. It had been a long week.

"I say we make it public, and we air an announcement cancelling the game…"

It's a reasonable gambit, and probably the best course of action given this ridiculous mess. White fingers handle the teacup delicately, picking up the page in that strange, idiosyncratic yet endearing way. Light wonders if he'll press his thumb to his mouth, drawing from some oddly specific percentage improvement of his overall intellect.

"… there could be another message, hidden in this diary. One that's not so obvious." Light notices then that L had glanced back over to him with interest. He straightens, plasters over his cheerful mask.

"If there's a message here written in this code that only people who have this Shinigami power can understand, there'd be no way for me to decipher it. Still, it would only make sense to look into all the places that were mentioned in the journal." L taps his fingers on the side of his perch on the hotel's cheap vinyl.

Tch. If only it had been that easy. Although, if it were, I'm sure I would have killed him a lot sooner, Light regards his enemy with interest, _He's very good. As always._

"I should probably go to Aiwiyama and Shigwiasu, cause I'd blend in with the crowd there, you know?" Matsuda jumps in, and Light is eager on his tail.

"I'll go too," Too eager. L's eyes move to him almost immediately, focusing in on his tells. Almost imperceptibly, Light's vision flickers to L's lips and back to the grey shadows. Light spins a rationalization without having to think about it, but something…shifts in L that Light has never seen before. He can't have read that much from me. Light tears his gaze away, forces his breathing even. He's been spending too much time here.

"That seems like a reasonable course of action," L bounds forward off the chair, "I believe we are done for the night."

The other police officers nod and pass the evidence back to Watari. L strides, selects another peanut butter cup, and eyes Light from the corner of his eye. Light paints his mind to calm, his face blank and pleasant.

"Light. Do you think I could speak to you privately a moment?" Chief Yagami moves forward as if to say something, but L spreads a hand to still him, "Not to worry, Chief Yagami. I'd like to make a request of Light."

 _He's on to me. He's better than I thought. I spoke too quickly—but it's not like him to single me out, unless he wants to remind me I'm still a suspect._ The two of them step into the master bedroom. It's a simple, pared down motel space. The bed looks like it hasn't been used at all in the three days L has been headquartered there.

Light stares a moment at the marks under L's eyes before he realizes neither of them has said a word. "So. Did you want me for something?"

L smiles, catlike, "Of a sort. Do you have any engagements for tomorrow, Saturday?"

"I don't, no."

"I was wondering if you'd join me for a day at the Sunroute Kumamoto. We could play a few games of tennis, talk outside of the Kira case."

Light tenses internally, but keeps his face blank, "Is this about your suspicion of me? I'll do it if it will help you believe that I am not Kira."

"You know I've been nothing but forthright with you about the investigation, so let me speak to you honestly. This has nothing to do with the investigation. I know I could benefit from a day away, and I believe you could as well." L fixes him with bottomless grey eyes.

 _I can't refuse without sounding suspicious. He can't possibly think of us as friends?_ "Sure, now that we've got a breather from schoolwork. Tomorrow is free for me."

"Good. I'll have Watari make the necessary arrangements.

Walking home from the latest headquarters, Ryuk cackles in the night, "Well, well. Looks like you and L might be friends after all."

"Don't be ridiculous. This must be because he suspects something. I just have to figure out his angle."

"Maybe he suspects something because you keep looking at him funny."

"What? I have not! You're being an idiot."

"Well he's been looking at you funny too. I'm just saying. You humans are weird."

 _Whatever he's planning... I will stay one step ahead of him. I'm safe as long as the second Kira remains his focus. And that we won't face until next week. As long as I can stay calm, this might even work out to my advantage._

* * *

After a tense ride in L's Rolls Royce, they are seated for brunch with a white linen tablecloth and fresh lilies. The Sunroute is elegance in Meji restoration style. It's easily the most high-end resort in the region. L pores over his menu. Light tries not to stare. _It's the strangeness of the situation that's getting to you._

"So, do you often go away like this?"

"Only when I absolutely have to. I am human, despite my many talents. One can't hold a full hand of aces." L seems bored by the conversation, as if the reason they are here should be obvious, "Though I admit, this is the first time I've come across company intelligent enough to bring with me."

Light privately wonders if the detective simply ordered cake and played tennis alone for an entire day, which seemed absolutely pointless. _I'm above that. At least I can speak with people._ Though, an unwanted thought strikes him, _L is more interesting, more challenging to talk to than most people_. A smiling waiter arrives to take their order.

"Now then. I know we are moving away from work and schoolwork, but to be honest, I find the purity of Mathematics to be a welcome break from messy detective work. Did you solve the Petersen graph problem?"

"Of course. It was simple, once you worked in the part about odd cycles."

"Excellent. Let's consider this new problem- prove that any set of five elemental vertices induces a subgraph with at least one edge."

Light considers, "that's equivalent to searching the largest independent set. "

"Yes... I haven't been thinking about it very long," L takes out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans, unrolls the image of the graph. So similar to the Kira pentagram, "Do you have a pen on you?"

"Sure." Light realizes immediately after that L now holds the pen used to write names in his Death Note. Is that bad? L cradles the pen at the tip, his writing beautiful and illegible. I doubt it.

"Have you considered interpreting it as a Kneser graph?"

L fixes him with a vivid stare, his heart skips. "I hadn't yet. That's brilliant. I think it's definitely how to solve it."

L sketches out the rest of the proof while Light interjects occasionally. Before either of them notices, the food arrives. An elegant cherry cake and a traditional rice with quail egg.

"Ryuga, why do you always eat such sweet food? It can't be healthy."

"Mmf," L quirks an eye from his owl-like perch on his chair, "the same reason I do everything. Because it helps me think at a higher capacity about cases, for longer. Also, I like it."

"Everything? What about tennis?"

"That's from before. I didn't know myself as well then. It's why I hadn't played for a while when we met."

"But you keep active, don't you? You must."

A ghost of a smile turns up L's pale lips, "I do. Since I do police work, I tend to focus my attentions on something more...defensive. I'm not involved in field work, I play to my strengths. But if a situation occurred, I would prefer not to be completely vulnerable."

"That's interesting," Light smiles his bland smile, "I actually studied jujutsu for a number of years. I guess it's since my father was interested in my self-defense skills, for obvious reasons."

"Perhaps then, we should spar rather than play tennis? I believe there are gyms of all kinds here, and it would be good to have a grappling partner,"Was that a purr in his voice?

"I'm always up for the challenge." Something itches at Light's curiosity, "If everything you do contributes to your ability to work on a case, does that include going out to Suntango with me?"

"Oh, especially this. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time." L plucks the cherry off the cake, places it on his tongue. "This is really quite delectable. Would you like to try it?"

Light is too distracted by the cherry to say anything other than, "Sure." Behind him, Ryuk chuckles, and Light makes a mental note to tell him to get lost. This isn't helping the situation.

L slices off a small piece and offers it to Light on his fork. Light takes the fork, savoring the taste (not too sweet, delicate almonds) while L watches him intently. "It's delicious," _where is this going? What does he want?_ "Uh. Would you like to try mine?"

L nods, and Light scoops up some of the savoury egg, offers it to L. A devilish look flashes in grey eyes, and L puts his lips to the offered fork. Light almost drops it in surprise.

"It's a nice flavor. Protein." L is imperceptible now.

"I uh…glad you like it." His thoughts stop for a moment, then go full tilt as they both eat for a moment. _He just… that must have been a flirt. Did he invite me here to flirt with me? Stupid, is this a date? Is this some sort of game with him, or is this another one of his…quirks._ Then the obvious occurs to him.

 _I have to take advantage of this._ And his eyes wander back to L, a flash of desire washes over him that has nothing to do with Kira, _Yes. I must use today to learn his name. So that I can eventually, carefully, when all suspicion is off of me, write it in my Death Note. If he wants to flirt, that's fine. I know how to flirt._ Light tries to ignore the sweat on his palms, and the thump of his heart.

* * *

They weave their way through the ostentatious hotel, with L pointing out different types of indoor garden. The Suntango gym has spared no expense. There are single rooms for sparring, framed by white-paper walls such that the sounds of grunt and strain bled through.

"I usually spar in these clothes. I prefer to be comfortable fighting in them. Do you need a change of clothes?" L quirks an eyebrow at Light.

"I think I'll take off my good shirt," Light unbuttons it to reveal the white cotton undershirt, "But I agree with you that it's smart to practice in the clothes that might make the difference."

"Yes...not that it would make a difference to Kira. I usually begin with Chinese T'ai Chi forms. Do you know then?"

"No, but I can follow."

"All right. Start by clearing your mind."

Light watches L closely as they settle into the beginning form. The two move achingly slowly, L's body a seamless ripple cradling sunlight, making wings. Light is glad, this time, he has an excuse to watch. They move as one, and losing himself in it, Light lets go of Kira for a moment, an hour, years. Then it ends, and L is gazing at him, almost shyly.

"You have beautiful form," Light manages. What am I saying? Wait, that was good. Definitely a flirt. It's different when he's... a him. The truth of the matter was it was different because he was L.

"Thank you," L's smile is warm, eyes crinkling just the slightest, "Let us begin, then."

"I'll start with the weapon," Light selects a wooden bar meant to represent a knife.

Then they're on each other. It takes L less than 10 seconds to disarm him, but it's clear both of them are hand-to-hand fighters. Light weaves and twists, marvelling and how intellectual, how psychological fighting with an opponent as skilled as L is. He moves forward with a wicked punch that L barely deflects, jumping back to catch a breath.

"Your Choku Tsuki is quite impressive," L gives him an approving nod.

"Thanks. You're quite good yourself." Light replies.

"I know." Then they're grappling again, moving faster than Light believed he was capable of. Like the tennis match again, but less showy. More personal. For every foot or fist he gets close, his partner retaliates, bare misses and with the sting of the occasional blow. The room smells like ozone and danger, and the tension between Kira and L begins to bubble to the surface. More marked hits, harder, faster, stronger. Then Light moves, goes for an almost deadly side cut, and he is flying across the room, hitting the ground hard.

"Shit! Light!" L is at his side at an instant, hands gingerly checking his shins.

"I'm fine," Light manages breathlessly, "Only my pride."

"I could have broken your leg."

"Yeah, well, I know how to land," Light suddenly laughs out loud, "I've never heard you swear before!"

"I thought I'd miscalculated. I got a little too caught up in the fight."

"You're not the only one," Light says truthfully, then notices L's hand, gentle on his thigh. _Oh shit._ Light starts upwards, then tries to recover:

"I'm going to take a quick shower, okay?" thank God the slacks he had on weren't revealing. He avoids L's eyes, knowing that the other was perceptive enough to know why he'd jumped back.

"That's fine, I'll cool down here." Light can't help glancing back, expecting a smirk, but L's face is kind, earnest, almost a bit sad. The knot in his chest loosens a bit as he hurries to the showers. _Shit. Shit Shit Shit._

"I told you- looking funny," Ryuk grins, deathlike, "this has got to be the most interesting story between two humans in a long time."

Light turns on the shower to ice cold. He fixes Ryuk with a glare, hissing, "Look, I want you gone. Get lost or I won't feed you any apples for a month."

"Oh come on! Don't be so tense. I think you should nail him, if you want my opinion. It'll do you both some good."

"Get. Out."

"Alright, alright, I can take a hint." Ryuk flashes his scarlet eyes and vanishes through the wall. Light growls, tries to stop his hands from shaking.

 _Okay, just calm down. Go over the data, before you get in over your head. L is obviously attracted to you._ Light takes a deep breath through the chill of the shower, _And maybe you're a little attracted to him. Whatever. You haven't masturbated in weeks. You're horny. He's horny._

 _So what are you going to do about it?_ Light towels off, his erection (thankfully) subsided, and pulls his clothes back on. He mulls the situation over, weighing the pros and cons. When he gets out of the change rooms, L is waiting by the door.

"It's getting late in the afternoon," L fixes him with the quirk of a smile, and Light can't deny the way his pulse quickens at the sight of that sinuous neck, "Do you need to be heading home? Unless you'd like to stay for dinner?"

 _Oh, that tears it. This is happening_. "Only if we can make this a proper sleepover," his tone and face are perfect innocence.

"Well," Light is rewarded with a cat-like grin, "I think that can be arranged."

* * *

They take an elegant dinner over mathematics again. Neither of them want to make the first (third?) move. Come evening, they settle in the hotel room. L is perched high on the leather of an armchair, a wary eagle. Light is cross-legged on the matched couch, keyed up on nervous energy, careful restraint, and the hungry fascination he's been trying to ignore. They've been trading barbs about their concept of justice for over an hour, an intricate tango of words and double meanings.

"...but which crimes are those which we grant no pardon? And can you really take into account an individual's past and privilege?" L glittered black in the fading sunlight.

"Privilege? It's what's right. Ignorance is not a defence."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean that certain people are born with more advantages than others. Myself, for example, and yourself as well," L holds out a finger as Light goes to protest, "it doesn't mean that you've had it easy, Light. You're the most hardworking person I know. But the fact is that having a stable family is a luxury some people aren't born with."

"I'd rather it be such that those situations didn't exist. A clean slate for all."

"Yes, but it isn't that simple." L's hands are clutched white on the chair edge. _I've got to him somehow._ But Light finds himself wanting to comfort L despite himself.

"Ryuga, did you ever believe in God? Or Gods?" That one is a little too close. Although there's no way someone as logical as L believes in a god.

L's hands relax, he rolls his head in a tired gesture like surrender. "If a god exists, he's barely working at all. Deductive reasoning would suggest that either a God or Creator is powerless, or he shares none of our conventional morals. Criminals live and die, good people live and die, these types are not one and the same. Still, the cards fall as they will...some will change, others will continue to worsen things, others to better. So it goes. It makes the wondering interesting, at least."

"I think that we could take on more responsibility for those decisions, whether or not people's wrongs deserve to be righted. Don't you think we, of all people deserve to have a hand in this?" will he suspect something? I have to fix this, "as you do, I mean."

"No, I don't." Light looks up, _that's it. I've gone too far,_ but L simply looks distant. Sad, even. Light realizes how much the room has fallen into darkness. They had been talking for hours. L's sharp and sleepless shadows appear gentle.

 _He doesn't suspect me. Not in this moment._ Something jumps in Light's heartbeat. His eyes stray back to L. Perched on the chair, blue and ivory feet catch the corner of his vision. The scenario arrives before the scheme, though its ends seem obvious to Light's goal. _Here's my chance_ , his thoughts try to smother his excitement. "Ryuga, are we finished thinking for the evening?"

L regards him warily, "I suppose-"

"It's just..." pour on the charm. His nervousness edges on sincerity, "your feet seem chilly. Sit?"

L leans back wordlessly, lets his feet rest at the end of the chair. Without even thinking, Light slides down to the Lebanese carpet, places one hand, then the other carefully on the right foot.

The skin is satin pulled over glacier. He runs his finger under the leathery instep, and L shivers to his toes. "I didn't realize you were so cold." Light speaks, trying to break the eerie silence in his own mind. L's toes crunch up into his fingertips, soft and weathered all at once.

As Light works the warmth back into L's right foot, then his left, L slowly melts into a curled bundle on the leather. Light thinks of nothing, the sensation too fascinating to ignore.

"Kira killed 5 people last week." L whispers.

Kira had, in fact, killed 15. This was common knowledge even outside of the Task force. "I thought you said you were finished thinking."

"If I were thinking, I wouldn't have said something like that," L scrunches his face bitterly, "I meant 5 petty criminals. Less than a two year sentence. Some of them probably would have gotten away with a fine."

"It's a scary world that Kira is trying to create. We have to stop him." Light is impressed by his own improvisation. Even he would trust his word, now.

"Yes. It wouldn't be a world I would live very long in."

"Oh?" the closeness of L's cotton-ozone smell is making him dizzy. He barely notices that he's close to more information.

"Yes. At the time, I had very few choices. It doesn't excuse it. Sometimes I don't think the means justify then ends, if I can't catch Kira." Then, there is a warm breath next to his neck."Do you believe in redemption, Light Yagami?"

 _There's the gamble. The knife edge. One of us will fall here. Kira would take this moment, would use it to his full advantage. All it would take was a soft phrase_ "... I don't know. There aren't many things I'm certain of," a turn to look into L's eyes, "I don't even know your name, Ryuga."

But the words are only spoken in his mind. L blinks his grey orbs and Light places his thumb, ever so slight, on the black shadow under them.

"I don't."

A gust of breath on his cheek, "I know."

Then L's lips are on his, they taste like sweet icing and ink, blooming into characters, names, twisted words. He opens up to deepen it, expecting a bite or a battle, but L only sighs into him, pushing lightly into the hand that still grips his elegant foot. L's tongue drags over the roof of his mouth, teeth caress his lower lip. Light sucks at L's tongue greedily, drags his fingers up the vein along the ankle.

This is reckless, this is the man that he swore to kill with his bare hands if he needed to, the man whose name belongs in his Death Note, the only opposition to his new age. Whose fingers track down his neck, lips trace the shell of his ear to suck at the lobe, and Light arches, his hands moving to sharp hipbones. In a swift movement he bundles L and lifts him over to the bed, shivering as L moves in to mark his neck.

Spider fingers are working his buttons undone, running down his smooth chest. Light pulls the cotton shirt above the mop of black hair to expose paper-white bone and muscle chest. Light traces the ridges along the spine, pressing their chests together as L arches, and their mouths tangle again. L's fingers find the ridge of his slacks, then he flickers his bright eyes open, questioning.

"Yes, do it, yes," Light runs his hand along the curve of L's side as the other man pushes him down on the bed, works him out of his pants as Light grapples for his jeans. In a few breaths they're naked, L reverently sliding his fingers down his warm abdomen to settle on his hips. Before Light can glance, L's mouth is on him, sliding over the tip and pressing his lips along the sensitive edge. Light barely keeps his hips from bucking upwards, tangles a hand in L's silky hair.

The velvet of L's tongue nearly overwhelms him. L takes him in, and then pulls off to lick at the base of his balls, pressing his icy fingers around his cock. Light hisses with the sensation, and nearly loses it when that thin mouth sucks at his tip. "L," he whispers raggedly, "I'm not going to last long if you keep that up."

L pulls off of him and barely manages a smile before Light captures his mouth, pulling their bodies flush against each other. Light takes his time to explore, draw it out. He knows where his strengths lie. He bites at L's earlobe, suckles small marks along his collarbones, pinching at his nipples, and drawing up to admire his work. L looks wrecked, his cock pretty and throbbing, panting, his eyes glittering.

"You look terrifying like this," L smirks now, but there's real adrenaline in his gaze.

"You love it." Light leans in and smirks right back, and L barely has a chance to nod before Light takes his cock suddenly all the way in, pulling off to suck at the tip, and L is keening, Light can't get enough of that sound. Light gives as good as he gets, but soon L is tugging him upwards, sliding their cocks together with a friction that is just too much, Light leans in to nibble L's earlobe, and he comes, biting into Light's shoulder, that sensation dragging Light over the edge right with him.

They hold a moment, just gasping. L looks him in the eyes, "You're a fucking hot mess, Light Yagami." and that's all it takes till they're both laughing, grinning like idiots as they clean off with blankets and tongue.

When the mirth wears off, they're both shaking, sweat-drenched and wracked with shivery post-orgasm. L clutches his knees towards him suddenly, and Light moves closer, tracing his fingers along white spine and guiding them both to lying down.

"I've never done that with someone before." Light isn't surprised at L's admission.

"I know. Neither had I."

"I know. We're saying obvious things now."

"Sleep then."

"Thank you." At this, Light simply presses his chin to L's warm shoulder in reply.

* * *

The morning hits softly, light trickling in from elegant shutters. When Light pushes off the linen sheets, L is already awake, freshly showered and perched on a chair facing the bed. He looks up from a stack of pages to thoroughly study Light.

"Shower's free."

As Light stumbles in to the bathroom, the glow of the night before takes on an anxious hue. _Was this a trap after all? What could he possibly learn about Kira from sleeping with me? No—I have to think about what I gained from this…his trust? Am I closer to learning his name, to killing—_

"Hey Light," Ryuk's rasp cut through his inner monologue, "So, did you bang him?"

Shut up. He lands his Choku Tsuki on the shower tile, swearing as the pain reverberates through his knuckles.

"Alright, I can take a hint. You would think this would help you unwind. Humans!" Ryuk disappears through the ornate ceiling. Light towels off, pulls his boxers on in search of his clothes. His fingers throb. He rifles through the sheets, pulls on his slacks, when a hand is at his. L's lips brush his bruised knuckles. A sigh rips from Light involuntarily. They hold the moment. Then L speaks.

"This is usually why I go. I thought you could…benefit from the self-awareness necessary to function at maximal capacity. And I was curious about you."

"Oh?" he tried to keep his tone airy, unaffected, "Have I satisfied your curiosity?"

"It's not what I expected." L slips off the bed to stand eye-to-eye with Light. Light buttons up his shirt, trying to keep his fingers even.

"How so?" and the bitterness is there, _perhaps it's for the best, Kira would not be bitter._

"Never wanted to stick around more than a day," L's finger pushes Light's lip open in a mirror of the familiar gesture. He leans in for one last, thorough kiss, "We'll do this again, if we have to. I suspect not, for the time being."

Light barely prevents himself from leaning into the hand still cupping his face, "Yes. Not for a long time."

"And Light," his eyes grow wider as he scans the other man with vicious intensity, "Nothing that happened last night is data to me. It exists independently of the investigation, independently of L. But you need to know that the one percent still exists."

Damn him. Light smiles and nods, "I understand."

"I'll see you at task force headquarters, Monday." Tough against the wave of hatred, Light nods seriously. Still, it takes a full minute before each lets go of the other's hand.


End file.
